65-Year-Old Woman Burns in Car; Onlookers Unaware Anyone Inside

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. (AP) _ A 65-year-old woman was critically burned as she sat in a flaming Cadillac while about 30 people watched, unaware she was inside, fire officials and witnesses said Friday.

″Everybody was outside watching and banging on the door to see if someone was inside, but there was no noise″ said Silvia Rosenberg, who ran outside her liquor store to see the fire Thursday.

″When the Fire Department started watering down the car and broke the window, flames started shooting out. They found her inside,″ Ms. Rosenberg said. ″It was awful, just awful. The poor lady.″

Barbara Averbach, 65, was in critical condition Friday at the University of California Medical Center in Irvine with second- and third-degree burns over 45 percent of her body, hospital spokeswoman Barbara Firger said.